Round-up: How unequal was the Roman Empire?

The most interesting articles that came to our attention this week

The Causal Effects of Education on Age at Marriage and Marital Fertility. Neil Cummins examines whether education has a causal effect on fertility in England. Comparing women who were affected by compulsory schooling laws (which required them to stay in school for an extra year) to those born just before, he finds that it has precisely zero effect on fertility. The authors suggest that both education and fertility are consequences of broader cultural changes.

Sex Differences in Upper- and Lower-Limb Muscle Strength in Children and Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis. James Nuzzo and Matheus Pinto carry out a meta-analysis of sex differences in arm and leg strength in children and adolescents. Analysing 299 estimates from 34 studies, they find that sex differences exist in children but are much larger among teenagers. The sex difference in arm strength is much greater. Among teenagers, it amounts to 1.84 standard deviations.